Biomagnetic Monitoring of Pollutant

International Research Journal of Environment Sciences________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414

Vol. 3(8), 46-53, August (2014) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci.

International Science Congress Association 46

Biomagnetic monitoring of Atmospheric particulate Pollution through

Roadside tree leaves in Aizawl city, Mizoram and their temporal and spatial

variations

Prabhat Kumar Rai and Biku Moni Chutia Department of Environmental Science, Mizoram University, Tanhril, Aizawl-796004, Mizoram, INDIA

Available online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 2rd July 2014, revised 7th August 2014, accepted 17th August 2014

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) is one of the six criteria pollutants in terms of adverse impact on human health. It has been

demonstrated that magnetic measurement is an important means in PM pollution study through plant leaves. Plants

species are found as effective biomonitors and may act as natural filters by trapping and retaining PM on their leaf

surfaces. In the present study, the magnetic properties [Magnetic susceptibility (χ), Anhysteretic remanent magnetization

(ARM) and Saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM)] of three roadside plant leaves (Bougainvillea

spectabilis, Cassia fistula and Lantana camara) at four spatially distant sites were measured in order to compare their

capability to accumulate PM. Further, the aim of this study was to assess PM pollution at selected sites and to establish the

relationship between magnetic properties and PM in Aizawl city. The results indicated significant correlation between the

concentration of ambient PM and magnetic measurement (χ, ARM and SIRM) of the selected roadside plant leaves.

Similarly, significant correlations between magnetic parameters (χ, ARM and SIRM) and Fe concentrations have been

demonstrated. Present study may be a novel contribution in the field of bio-magnetic monitoring as the previous related

studies confined their quest mostly to temperate plants, concentrating on single magnetic parameter. However, in present

study we have selected three magnetic parameters (χ, ARM and SIRM). Study concluded that bio-magnetic monitoring as

an application of environmental geomagnetism may act as proxy for ambient PM pollution and may act as an eco-

sustainable tool for environmental management in urban and peri-urban regions.

Keywords: Biomonitoring, vegetation, particulates, human health, magnetic properties.

Introduction

Plants are considered as a good biological indicator of air

pollution and thus, they are widely used in environmental

studies. Plants leaves were proved to be good collector of PM1-4

.

Biomonitoring of particulate pollution through magnetic

properties of tree leaves is a reliable, rapid and inexpensive

alternative to existing atmospheric pollution monitoring

techniques5-7

.

Atmospheric particulate matter is one of the most problematic

air pollutants in view of their adverse impacts on human health.

Atmospheric pollutants exist in both gaseous and pollutants

form8. Many studies highlighted the importance of PM10,

which, due to their small size, can penetrate deep into the

human lung and cause cardio vascular diseases4,9-13

. Alongside

PM10s are further grain size divisions of PM2.5 and PM0.1 (2.5

µm and 0.1 µm, respectively, again relative to their aerodynamic

diameters). These fine and ultrafine particulates have higher

burdens of toxicity as they become coated with heavy metals

and chemicals, which, when inhaled, can become absorbed into

the body and may target specific organs4,14,15

. The urban

population is mainly exposed to high levels of air pollution

because of motor vehicle emissions, which is also the main

source of fine and ultrafine particles4,16,17

.

In light of the said deleterious impacts of PM, it is pertinent to

investigate the feasible and eco-sustainable green technologies.

Although, there are many existing physical and chemical

devices for assessment of air pollution, however, biomonitoring

is an efficient tool in urban areas. Biological monitors are

organisms that provide quantitative information on some aspects

of the environment. In this regard, the air cleansing capacity of

urban trees presents an alternative approach to foster an

integrated approach to the sustainable management of urban

ecosystem4. In urban and peri-urban regions higher plants are

fruitful for monitoring dust or PM pollution as lichens and

mosses are absent in polluted urban regions4,18

. Further, urban

trees and shrubs planted in street canyons and along road side

proved to be effective dust capturing tools1,2,17

. Spreading

widely in urban area and easily collected, tree leaves could

improve the scanning resolution in the spatial scale19,20

. Tree

leaves are efficient passive pollution collectors, as they provide

a large surface area for PM deposition, a large number of

samples and sampling sites21

. Therefore, urban angiosperm trees

offer positive biological, ecological and aerodynamic effects in

comparison to lower group of plants1,2,4,22

.

International Research Journal of Environment Sciences______________________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414



Biomagnetic monitoring with the urban roadside tree leaves, is

very novel approach in the field of PM pollution science. The

concept of environmental magnetism as a proxy for atmospheric

pollution levels has been reported by several researchers based

on analysis of soils and street or roof dust23-30

and vegetation

samples2,31

, however, scanty researches have emphasized the

use of plant leaves in monitoring the dust or PM1,2,4,29,32-41

.

In this paper, we carry out a primary magnetic study on PM

pollution in Aizawl City, Mizoram. The rapid urbanization, fast,

drastic increases in vehicles on the roads and other activities

including soil erosion, mining, stone quarrying and shifting

cultivation in Aizawl, has lead to increases in the concentration

of particulates pollutions in the atmosphere. Since the rocks of

Aizawl are very fragile, the weathered rock dust may also get

deposited on plant leaves. The present study aims to investigate

the magnetic properties of different roadside plant leaves at

four spatially distant sites in order to compare their capability to

accumulate particulates and trying to map the PM pollution, to

provide essential data for the recognition and control of air

quality as well as for further environmental study.

Material and Methods

Description of Study site: Mizoram (21⁰ 56’- 24⁰31’N and 92⁰

16’- 93⁰26’E) is one of the eight states under northeast India

(figure 1), and it covers an area of 21,081 km2. The tropic of

cancer divides the state into two almost equal parts. The state is

bordered with Myanmar to the east and south, Bangladesh to the

west, and by the states of Assam, Manipur and Tripura to the

north. The altitude is approaching to near the Myanmar border.

The forest vegetation of state falls under three major categories

i.e., tropical wet evergreen forest, tropical semi-evergreen forest

and sub- tropical pine forest42

. Aizawl district comes under

Indo-Burma hotspot region of North East India43,44

, highly

diverse plant species having varying leaf morphology can be

sampled for dust deposition and study of magnetic parameters.

Mostly the diversity of tropical evergreen plants prevails along

the roadsides of Aizawl district, and therefore, they can retain

the pollutants throughout the year, thus, offering no seasonal

constraint.

Aizawl (21⁰58’- 21⁰85’ N and 90⁰30’- 90⁰60’ E), the capital of

the state is 1132 meter above sea level (asl). The altitude in

Aizawl district varies from 800 to 1200 meter asl. The climate

of the area is typically monsoonic. The annual average rainfall

is amounting to ca. 2350 mm. The area experiences distinct

seasons. The ambient air temperature normally ranges from 20

to 30⁰ C in summer and 11 to 21⁰C in winter45

. It is well known

that meteorological data may also affect the air pollutants

including dust or particulate deposition, therefore average

meteorological data of the study area recorded during the study

period are mentioned in table 1.

Figure-1

Map of the Study Area, Aizawl, Mizoram, North East India




Table-1

Meteorological data of the study area i.e. Aizawl, Mizoram

Study

period

Temperature Rainfall

(mm)

Humidity

(%) Maximum0

C

Minimum 0 C

September,

2012 27.93 20.34 10.32 90.22

October,

2012 27.77 19.12 11.14 82.32

November,

2012 26.96 15.23 0 69.54

December,

2012 24.61 13.44 0 67.19

Average 26.81 17.03 5.36 77.31

The study was carried out in Aizawl district which was

categorized in to four sub-sites. Site1. Durtlang: Durtlang is a

connecting road between Mizoram and Assam and is one of the

main and busy roads of the city with high traffic density.

Vehicles are the main source of pollution at this site. Site 2.

Zarkawt: Zarkawt is a commercial place in the city of Aizawl.

Because of high traffic density the emission of dust particles is

usually very high in this area. Site3. Ramrikawn: Ramrikawn is

very densely located commercial area with markets, bus as well

as taxi stand and Food Corporation of India (FCI). FCI provides

space for food storage for whole of Mizoram state. Due to

existence of FCI in Ramrikawn area there is a frequent

movement of heavy duty vehicles coming from all parts of India

through National highway of Pushpak (NH-54). As there is a

public bus and taxi stand, vehicular movement is usually high in

Ramrikawn area. Stone quarrying activity is also found in this

area which leads to emission of dust particles. Biomass burning

through shifting cultivation is very common in this region 43,44

and may also be a source of suspended particulate matter

pollution. In view of these pollution sources we selected

Ramrikawn as polluted area for investigation. Site 4. Mizoram

University Campus (MZU): MZU campus is an institutional

area. Vehicles including bus, taxi, truck etc. are the main source

of pollution in MZU campus. University buses, taxis, trucks or

trollies coming with construction materials are the main sources

of pollution in MZU campus. However, the load of vehicles is

very low and less frequent in comparison to other sites.

Therefore, we selected MZU as reference or control site in order

to compare the results recorded from other sites. In our recent

research17

we recorded maximum dust deposition during winter

season, so we took winter season for our study purpose.

Sampling: Sampling was conducted during the months of

September-December 2012 (period of almost negligible rain as

shown in (table 1). Tree leaves were collected from three

species on dry sunny days. The recorded plants were

Bougainvillea spectabilis, Cassia fistula and Lantana camara.

These three plants samples were selected for the study because

of their abundance, convenience for sampling and their

socioeconomic importance for local people. Moreover, these

plants have already been investigated for their suitability in

efficient dust capturing17,22

. Also, these plants are evergreen

therefore, offers no seasonal constraint. At each site, 5-10 leaves

of similar size from branches facing roadside were plucked

through random selection in early hours of morning (08 AM to

12 AM) and placed in polythene bags. Leaves were collected

from the tree on the side nearest to the road at a height of

approximately 2 m to avoid possible contamination from ground

splash. Preference was usually given to oldest leaves from the

newest twig in order to select leaves of similar age and exposure

time. The leaves were brought to laboratory of Department of

Environmental Science, Mizoram University. Leaves were dried

at 35 ºC and recorded the dried weight; samples were prepared

for magnetic analysis, which involved packing the dried leaves

into 10 –cc plastic sample pots46

.

Magnetic parameters: The magnetic parameters such as

Magnetic susceptibility (χ), Anhysteretic remanent

magnetisation (ARM) and Saturation isothermal remanent

magnetisation (SIRM) were carried out with dried leaves in 10 –

cc plastic sample pots at K.S. Krishnan Geomagnetic Research

Lab of Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Allahabad, Uttar

Pradesh, India.

The magnetic susceptibility reflects the total composition of the

dust deposited on the leaves, with a prevailing contribution from

ferromagnetic minerals, which have much higher susceptibility

values than paramagnetic and diamagnetic minerals, such as,

clay or quartz21,46,47

. A Bartington (Oxford, England) MS-2B

dual frequency susceptibility meter was used48

and

measurements were taken. The sensitivity of this instrument was

in the range of 10-6

.

ARM indicates the magnetic concentration and is also sensitive

to the presence of fine grains ~ 0.04 – 1 µm49

. Thus, falling

within the respirable size range of PM2.5 and having the

potential to have a high burden of toxicity6. ARM was induced

in samples using a Molspin (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England) A.

F. Demagnetiser, whereby a DC biasing field is generated in the

presence of an alternating field, which peaks at 100 milli-Tesla

(mT). The nature of this magnetic field magnetises the fine

magnetic grains and the amount of magnetisation retained

within the sample (remanence) when removed from the field

was measured using a Molspin1A magnetometer. The samples

were then demagnetised to remove this induced field in

preparation for the subsequent magnetic analysis46

.

SIRM indicates the total concentration of magnetic grains47

and

can be used as a proxy of PM concentration50

. SIRM involves

measuring the magnetic remanence of samples once removed

from an induced field. Using a Molspin Pulse Magnetiser, a

saturation isothermal remanent magnetisation (SIRM) of 800

mT in the forward field was induced in the samples. At this high

magnetisation field, all magnetic grains within the sample

become magnetised6. The instruments used for ARM and SIRM

were fully automated.




The ratio of IRM-300 and SIRM was defined as the S-ratio51

.

The S-ratio reflects the relative proportion of antiferromagnetic

to ferrimagnetic minerals in a sample. A ratio close to 1.0

reflects almost pure magnetite while ratios of < 0.8 indicate the

presence of some antiferromagnetic minerals, generally goethite

or haematite52

.

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) and respirable

suspended particulate matter (RSPM) monitoring: Sampling

was done using ‘High Volume Sampler’ (Envirotech APM 460)

eight hour daily for SPM and RSPM in the months of

September- December, 2012 with a frequency of once in a

week. SPM in the atmosphere was determined using high

volume method and RSPM in the ambient air was determined

using the cyclonic flow technique.

Heavy metal (Fe): Pertaining to Fe analysis leaf samples of

selected plants were oven dried at 80°C for 48 hours and

digested with aqua-regia and analysed with Atomic Absorption

Spectrophotometer (AAS).

Statistical analysis: Correlation coefficient values were

calculated at each site using SPSS software (SPSS Inc., version

10.0) to evaluate the relationship between PM and magnetic

properties of selected tree leaves, in order to assess this method

as a proxy for particulate pollution and the suitability of leaves

as depositories of particulate pollution.

Results and Discussion

The ambient PM concentration recorded at spatially distant sites

is shown in table 2. The ambient PM concentrations were

recorded highest at Ramrikawn, followed by Zarkawt and

Durtlang, while lowest values were recorded for MZU campus.

The average magnetic data collected throughout the 4- month

sampling period is presented in tables 3, 4 and 5, respectively

for Bougainvillea spectabilis, Cassia fistula and Lantana

camara tree leaves.

Table-2

Table showing the average Suspended Particulate Matter

(SPM) and Respirable Particulate Matter (RSPM) recorded

from different sites during the study period

Sampling location SPM (µg m-3

) RSPM (µg m-3

)

Durtlang 199.04 172.71

Zarkawt 219.13 190.09

Ramrikawn 250.07 220.12

MZU Campus 130.12 100.09

Table-3

Summary of the magnetic data (mean and standard deviation) for roadside dusts on Bougainvillea spectabilis tree leaves in

the different sampling sites

Site χ

(10-7

m3

kg-1

)

ARM

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

)

SIRM

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

)

ARM/ χ

(102Am

-1)

SIRM/ χ

(102Am

-1)

S-ratio

Durtlang 15.12 ± 0.31 14.22 ± 0.44 188.24± 0.35 0.94 12.44 0.912

Zarkawt 22.21 ± 0.51 19.12 ± 0.81 248.11± 0.12 0.86 11.17 0.921

Ramrikawn 24.42 ± 0.31 23.72 ± 0.22 281.43± 0.18 0.97 11.52 0.931

MZU Campus 12.33 ± 0.11 10.38 ± 0.11 141.33± 0.21 0.84 11.46 0.867

Table-4

Summary of the magnetic data (mean and standard deviation) for roadside dusts on Cassia fistula tree leaves in the

different sampling sites

Site χ

(10-7

m3

kg-1

)

ARM

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

)

SIRM

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

)

ARM/ χ

(102Am

-1)

SIRM/ χ

(102Am

-1)

S-ratio

Durtlang 14.19 ± 0.32 12.23 ± 0.17 167.57± 0.31 0.86 11.80 0.895

Zarkawt 21.14 ± 0.11 17.69 ± 0.22 232.09 ± 0.12 0.83 10.97 0.912

Ramrikawn 23.42 ± 0.14 22.32 ± 0.36 277.41± 0.41 0.95 11.84 0.941

MZU Campus 11.13 ± 0.02 09.18 ± 0.19 133.76 ± 0.29 0.82 12.01 0.881

Table-5

Summary of the magnetic data (mean and standard deviation) for roadside dusts on Lantana camara tree leaves in the

different sampling sites

Site χ

(10-7

m3

kg-1

)

ARM

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

)

SIRM

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

)

ARM/ χ

(102Am

-1)

SIRM/ χ

(102Am

-1)

S-ratio

Durtlang 14.03 ± 0.11 12.56 ± 0.41 153.42± 0.71 0.89 10.93 0.891

Zarkawt 20.75 ± 0.18 20.05 ± 0.08 244.31 ± 0.12 0.96 11.77 0.931

Ramrikawn 23.21 ± 0.08 22.01 ± 0.17 271.51± 0.29 0.94 11.69 0.944

MZU Campus 11.48 ± 0.16 10.03 ± 0.22 119.55 ± 0.11 0.87 10.41 0.861




In Durtlang, it was found that the magnetic susceptibility (χ)

value of Bougainvillea spectabilis is 15.12±0.31 (10-7

m3

kg-1

),

ARM is 14.22±0.44 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

) and SIRM is 188.24±0.35

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

). Similarly Cassia fistula has got the value of

14.19±0.32 (10-7

m3

kg-1

) for magnetic susceptibility (χ),

12.23±0.17 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

) for ARM and 167.57±0.31 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

) for SIRM. And the magnetic susceptibility (χ), ARM and

SIRM values were 14.03 ± 0.11 (10–7

m3

kg-1

), 12.56 ± 0.41 (10-

5 Am

2 kg

-1) and 153.42 ± 0.71 (10

-5 Am

2 kg

-1) respectively for

Lantana camara.

In Zarkawt, the magnetic susceptibility (χ), ARM and SIRM

values are 22.21±0.51 (10-7

m3

kg-1

), 19.12±0.81 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

)

and SIRM 248.11±0.12 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

) respectively for

Bougainvillea spectabilis. For Cassia fistula magnetic

susceptibility (χ) value is 21.14±0.11 (10-7

m3

kg-1

), ARM value

is 17.69±0.22 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

) and SIRM value is 232.09±0.12

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

). And the magnetic susceptibility (χ), ARM and


m3

kg-1

), 20.05 ± 0.08 (10-

5 Am

2 kg

-1) and 244.31 ± 0.12 (10

-5 Am

2 kg


Lantana camara.

In Ramrikawn, it was found that the magnetic susceptibility (χ)

value of Bougainvillea spectabilis is 24.42±0.31 (10-7

m3

kg-1

),

ARM is 23.72±0.22 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

) and SIRM is 281.43±0.18

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

). Similarly Cassia fistula has got the value of

23.42±0.14 (10-7

m3

kg-1

) for magnetic susceptibility (χ),

22.32±0.36 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

) for ARM and 277.41± 0.41(10-5

Am2

kg-1

) for SIRM. And the magnetic susceptibility (χ), ARM and


m3

kg-1

), 22.01 ± 0.17 (10-

5 Am

2 kg

-1) and 271.51 ± 0.29 (10

-5 Am

2 kg


Lantana camara.

In MZU campus, the magnetic susceptibility (χ), ARM and

SIRM values are 12.33±0.11 (10-7

m3kg

-1), 10.38±0.11(10

-5

Am2kg

-1) and 141.33±0.21(10

-5 Am

2kg


Bougainvillea spectabilis. For Cassia fistula magnetic

susceptibility (χ) value is 11.13±0.02 (10-7

m3

kg-1

), ARM value

is 09.18±0.19 (10-5

Am2

kg-1

) and SIRM value is 133.76±0.29

(10-5

Am2

kg-1

). And the magnetic susceptibility (χ), ARM and


m3

kg-1

), 10.03 ± 0.22 (10-

5 Am

2 kg

-1) and 119.55 ± 0.11 (10

-5 Am

2 kg


Lantana camara. Several researches revealed that magnetic

susceptibility may be used as a proxy to monitor the regional

distribution of air PM pollution1,21,40

.

The values of ARM/χ and SIRM/χ can reflect the grain size of

magnetic minerals47,49

. From the study it was observed that

ARM/χ and SIRM/χ values are low at all study sites (table 3, 4

and table 5). Low values of ARM/χ and SIRM/χ indicate

relatively large grain size magnetic particles in leaf samples 3.

S-ratio of leaf samples ranges from 0.861 to 0.944 (table 3, 4

and 5), with an average of 0.907, which means that these leaf

samples are dominated by 'soft' magnetic minerals with a low

coercive force, but a minor part of 'hard' magnetic minerals with

a relatively high coercive force also exists53

.

From the findings recorded in table 3, 4 and 5 we can infer the

magnetic values for all plants species display similar trends,

with Ramrikawn representing highest, while MZU campus

representing the lowest concentration data. Further, results

indicates that Ramrikawn and Zarkawt experiences the highest

deposition of magnetic grains, originating from PM. χ, ARM

and SIRM values were high for Bougainvillea spectabilis when

compared with Cassia fistula and Lantana camara. However,

spatial trends of all the three magnetic parameters displayed

similar trend with Ramrikawn, having maximum value and

MZU campus recording lowest value. The correlation

coefficients indicated significant relationship between the

concentration of PM and magnetic measurement of the three

roadside plant leaves (table 6, 7 and 8). In literature, Hansard et

al41

also studied atmospheric particle pollution emitted by a

combustion plant with tree leaves, and found that SIRM of leaf

samples had a significant correlation with PM10 collected by a

particle collector. Hu et al54

also observed significant correlation

of magnetic parameters (magnetic susceptibility, ARM and

SIRM) with air pollutants particularly heavy metals. Further,

Kardel et al36

also recorded significant correlation between leaf

SIRM and ambient PM concentration. In India also several

researches demonstrated significant correlation between

magnetic parameter and PM33,37

.

Table-6

Correlation between magnetic measurements (Bougainvillea

spectabilis) with SPM and RSPM

Magnetic

parameter

SPM ( R2 ) RSPM ( R

2 )

χ 0.843 0.820

ARM 0.904 0.883

SIRM 0.922 0.904

Table-7

Correlation between magnetic measurements (Cassia fistula)

with SPM and RSPM

Magnetic

parameter

SPM ( R2 ) RSPM ( R

2 )

χ 0.856 0.834

ARM 0.867 0.843

SIRM 0.869 0.845

Table-8

Correlation between magnetic measurements (Lantana

camara) with SPM and RSPM

Magnetic

parameter SPM ( R

2 ) RSPM ( R

2 )

χ 0.840 0.816

ARM 0.824 0.800

SIRM 0.836 0.813




The average magnetic concentration data (table 3, 4 and table 5)

demonstrates that the accumulation of PM on tree leaves varies

across the four locations. The results suggest that Ramrikawn

and Zarkawt experiences the heaviest loads of particulates in

comparison to the low-depositions sites Durtlang and MZU

campus. This suggests that localized conditions like

environmental, metrological or anthropogenic may be

influencing or disturbing particulate deposition or it may reflect

differences in the ability of leaf species to capture particulates6.

Ramrikawn recorded the highest values of magnetic parameters

which may be attributed to heavy vehicles load (due to location

of food corporation of India), street dust and dust from fragile

rocks. Zarkawt and Durtlang may have vehicular pollution as

only source of PM while MZU campus, being an Institutional

area is relatively free from vehicular pollution and other

anthropogenic activities.

Significant correlation coefficients have been recorded between

PM and magnetic parameters of plant leaves which indicated

that roadside dust comprised of magnetic particles (table 6,7 and

8). It was also observed that all magnetic parameters were

showing significant correlation with Fe (table 9). Sant’Ovaia et

al21

also demonstrated positive significant correlation of

magnetic parameters (magnetic susceptibility and SIRM) with

Fe. The observations indicated that magnetic properties of dust

loaded particles act as a proxy for ambient PM pollution levels.

Table-9

Concentration of Fe (mg kg-1

) with standard deviation (S.D)

of the leaf samples

Mean concentration of Fe (mg kg-1

) ±±±± S.D

Sampling

site

Bougainvillea

spectabilis

Cassia

fistula

Lantana

camara

Durtlang 14.95 ± 0.32 13.41± 0.09 12.77 ± 0.32

Zarkawt 16.01 ± 0.11 14.51 ± 0.34 14.46 ± 0.12

Ramrikawn 17.54 ± 0.31 16.72 ± 0.21 14.32 ± 0.46

MZU

Campus 12.81 ± 0.27 10.17 ± 0.72 10.23 ± 0.22

Conclusion

Biomagnetic monitoring has received attention in the field of

PM pollution science because it is an inexpensive tool and also

provides an alternative proxy method to conventional air

pollution monitoring. According to our preliminary results from

the study on tree leaves in Aizawl city, we can conclude that; i.

Magnetic properties of tree leaves change significantly in

different functional areas. Magnetic concentration data suggest

that the deposition of PM on tree leaves varies due to different

traffic behaviour between sites and due to other activities like

soil erosion, mining and stone quarrying etc. ii. The magnetic

properties of tree leaves in Aizawl city revealed that the

magnetic fraction of dust is dominated by multidomain

magnetite-like ferromagnetic particles. iii. Magnetic survey of

tree leaves is recommended as an innovative tool in the field of

PM pollution.

Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

and Department of Science and Technology (DST), for

providing financial assistance in the form of research project

(vide project no. BT/PR-11889/BCE/08/730/2009 and

SR/FTP/ES-83/2009, respectively).

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Biomagnetic Monitoring of Pollutant